Woman Made Her Own History At Langley

Langley Speedway 1950-2000

April 09, 2000|By AL PEARCE Daily Press

History tells us the first woman to win a NASCAR- sanctioned Late Model Sportsman race did it at Langley Speedway on Saturday night, July 28, 1979.

That was the night Seaford native and York County school bus driver Diane Teel beat Eddie Card, John Livingston, Buck Godsey and Larry Lawrence in a 100- lapper. The Late Model Sportsman 100 was part of Langley's three-feature, five-heat, 190-lap program. Most of the state's top-name LMS drivers were scattered that night among Langley and South Boston in Virginia, and Hickory and Asheboro speedways in North Carolina.

Also winning at Langley that night were Robert Ingram over Wayne Hanbury in the Limited Sportsman 30 and Sam Vanderslice over Tom Aldrich in the Street Division 25. Among the other drivers who raced on that program: Everett and Elton Sawyer, Rose Durham, Larry Champ, Dale Lemonds and Jimmy Pike.

Teel, a Late Model rookie, rallied from an early- race spin with Larry Lawrence to pass Card for second-place with 16 laps remaining in the feature. She was a half-lap behind when leader Billy Smith wrecked with the lapped car of Robert Hood near the start-finish line at lap 86.

She dodged the wreck, inherited the lead under caution, then stayed there the final 14 laps for her history-making victory. She had one more close call, but avoided Buck Godsey's spinning car on lap 90 to pretty much settle the issue.

"The way our season has been, I was going to be happy with second,'' Teel said at the time, her tears not quite dry. "After everything we've been though, we figured second would look pretty good. This isn't just my win because I have so many people to thank.

"The crew has been so patient through it all. They never gave up hope. My husband, my parents, my children, my sponsors - everyone had a hand in this. That's why I was crying so hard under caution. I thought I had it won then, and I was thinking of all the people who helped me get here.''

Teel also was the first woman to qualify for a Busch Series race, doing it at Martinsville Speedway in March 1982. All told, she competed in 10 Busch Series races, with a best start of 12th and a best finish of eighth in the May 8, 1982 race at Langley.

Contact Al Pearce at 247-4641 or by e-mail at apearce@dailypress.com if you have a special Langley memory or story for this weekly 50th anniversary series.